LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -- First I would like to mention that at age of 37, this is the first time I am resorting to posting a negative online review. Second I would like to mention that none of the following can be held against Verizon representatives who have been professional and polite in every one of the conversations I've had with them over last several months. Unfortunately whatever policies they have been instructed to follow resulted in an astronomical bill, despite independent efforts by me and my wife to avoid the charges:

Prior to leaving for an international trip I contact Verizon to enable an appropriate plan that would allow me to make calls while abroad. I was told these would be $0.30 or something close to this figure (0.32-0.37). I also requested to have data access available and was quoted correct usage fees. Independently (an without me knowing) my wife called Verizon to make sure international charges were sound and correct plan was in place.

In addition to this, I brought with me and used another international phone from another provider that I have been using for past 7 years while traveling (one that I know from experience has a reasonable minute rate) to minimize Verizon usage and avoid any surprises. With an assumption that minute rate with Verizon would be somewhere in the $0.30-$0.40 neighborhood I did spend about 2 hours of talk time over a course of 3-4 weeks. I came back to find that the rate I was charged was actually $2.29 per minute. I was also charged for "International Value Plan", Roaming Minutes, and non-essential Verizon texts (only few of which actually appeared on the phone). I was also charged $200 for data usage, which was my mistake because I left the phone connected to laptop and automatic updates ran without me knowing. The net result was a $900 bill.

Verizon representative claimed that a text was sent to me (internationally) advising me of the minute rate, which was NOT the case. How is it that 2 educated people with very clear intent to avoid these charges, call Verizon, explain to two different Verizon representative the intended use of the phone and are still charged absurd fees? Why was mention of the minute rate specifically avoided by both representatives when destination country and travel dates were discussed.

After speaking with representatives I was offered an option to establish a repayment plan. I decided to take this route since, unfortunately, I am still under contract for one year and switching carriers with a $500 phone would not make sense financially. After being transferred to a representative, I made a $300 payment and requested that the remainder of the balance be added to future 2-3 monthly payments. The representative had no issue accepting my payment. One week later I received an automated message from Verizon, requesting immediate payment for $500+ to prevent service interruption. I run a small business and had no other option but to comply.

After checking the web I have come across many similar stories, and I find it unfortunate that Verizon chooses to conduct their business in this fashion, and that it has failed spectacularly to set fee expectations, and neglected to deliver on a promised fee arrangement. I would NOT recommend Verizon to anyone.

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Verizon is Anti-Military

Posted by Dana on 11/06/2013

Rating: 1/51

LEESVILLE, LOUISIANA -- Verizon is obviously anti-military. My story, as I am learning is just one of many horror stories the military has faced upon dealing with Verizon. How frustrating that our soldiers work so hard to fight for our country, to be forced to deal with businesses that have no appreciation for them whatsoever.

We are really shocked at how we have been treated throughout this whole ordeal. We have been Verizon customers since before they were Verizon (back when they were still Alltel). I had always enjoyed my services with them and as a result extended my services with them to include home phone and cable when we lived in an area that provided such. We had always had our account set up for automatic payment because we were aware of the amount and found this feature to be convenient. In the 11 years with our service with them, we were never late on any bill.

In early August 2013, we were stationed in Fort Polk, Louisiana. Upon our arrival with our 3 children one of which was our 2 month preemie, we quickly realized our wireless service did not work in this area. On August 5th, 2013, I contacted Verizon and ask what were my options. They explained that they were aware of the situation in our area and had no problem releasing us from our contract with no early termination fees (ETF), due to the circumstances. The representative even explained how to port my number over to another carrier, so that my number of 11 years wouldn't have to change. I was very happy with the outcome and even surprised with how helpful they were. The representative I spoke with, even sent his Verizon email, claiming should I have "any" problems, to contact him and he would make sure they were resolved. We received no further correspondence from Verizon.

On September 7th, 2013, Verizon deducted $561 out of my account. We called them immediately, I was told there were no notes of our being military and that I had cancelled my contract therefore was subject to early termination fees. Over the course of the following two weeks, I spoke to around 10-15 different representatives. I was required to send in military documentation and address confirmation, I had to fax, forward, call etc. During those 1st two weeks I spent more than 20 hours on the phone with Verizon, sometimes on hold, sometimes dealing with representatives that had no interest in helping resolve the situation. I spoke to one representative that told me point blank, it was my own fault for not stopping the automatic payment, and didn't I get a bill". I explained that after my number was ported over to a local carrier, Verizon closed my account therefore rendering me unable to access my online billing account, therefore I had no idea this would happen. I also ask him, if I had stopped automatic billing how would that have stopped Verizon from claiming I owed something, that I obviously do not.

One representative refused to listen to me speak and would even claim that she couldn't hear me when I spoke, but her line miraculously cleared whenever she wanted to speak. I tried contacting the original representative, the one that had left the email. After almost a full week, he finally wrote back with some excuse about being on vacation and that he would forward to his supervisor. Finally, after weeks of phone calls, I was told they had verified that in fact I was military and lived in a location without service, therefore they would refund my money in 4-6 weeks! I explained to them this simply wasn't acceptable, they had taken our housing payment. We had just moved to the area and while awaiting housing had to live in a motel for a month and a half with three children, our account was dangerously low, when Verizon cleaned us out. We were scheduled to move into our home September 10th. We were forced to sale some of our household goods to make ends meet, while we awaited the return of "our" money from Verizon.

Now today, is November 6th, 2013, we are 3 months into this ordeal with one day shy of being 2 months that Verizon still has our money. To date I have spoken to somewhere between 30-40 representatives and have probably logged more than 100 hours on the telephone, being transferred to representatives, between departments, everyone passing the buck and no real resolution. On October 10th, 2013, Verizon claims to have deposited $500 of the $561 back into my account, they told me to expect it within 24-72 hours, days passed and nothing. I called again and again, each time I was given a new time when it would magically appear into my account. Once a customer service representative did say that she could see that it had "not" processed because it was not submitted correctly, so I was then transferred back to financial services who claimed they did not see the error and it in fact was in my bank. I have contacted my bank and they have no information and or money from Verizon whatsoever. Finally I was told that it could take 3-15 "business" days to show in my account, because "some banks take longer", therefore making the deadline, November 1st,2013. No surprises it still isn't there. I called again on November 1st, 2013, were I was told they had in fact found the mistake in paperwork again, and in fact it had "never" been submitted, but it had been corrected and to expect our money within 24-72 hours. There again, today is November 6th, 2013 and still no money. I have spent yet "another" hour and a half on the phone with Verizon, it has been "escalated" again, now I am being told that I may receive my money in 4-6 weeks once it goes through accounts payable.

I am flabbergasted. I have gotten angry, cried, been patient and a host of other emotions all behind Verizon stealing money that wasn't theirs. We like most American families are trying to make ends meet, our preemie child, requires more financial care than the average baby, for obvious reasons. That situation alone is very stressful on our family, being a military family can be stressful, moving, uprooting our lives and having my husband deploy or being sent out on missions, all of it stressful, yet we have companies such as Verizon who with no care, compassion or gratitude for our situations, treats their customers this way. Now the holidays are upon us and there is no end in sight as to when we will actually have our own money back. The money my husband spent months away from his family and traveled to foreign lands, to fight for our rights as Americans to be treated fair and justly, and this is the treatment we have received from Verizon.
Years of customer loyalty, and this is the end result. Hopefully, eventually, with God's grace we will have our own money back, but the real loss is the hours spent fighting for what was rightfully ours all along, could have been spent with my baby boy that was born 10 weeks too early and had to spend six of those in neonatal intensive care. That they can never repay.

The sad truth is after sharing my story with other military families, I have learned our story is far from original. Apparently, Verizon has a reputation for not caring for their military families. I will certainly do my part to share our story to hopefully prevent others from dealing with such a terrible company.

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16 Phones in 4.5 Years

Posted by Spencer on 08/12/2013

Rating: 1/51

FOLSOM, CALIFORNIA -- The following is my tale, based on email written to Verizon ahead of a small claims case I will soon be filing against Verizon, of how I came to be known as “14-phone guy”:

In 4.5 years, Verizon has sent me 16 warranty replacement phones – this does not include upgrades or Asurion replacements. Nearly all of the 16 suffered from data-related issues. Some would freeze when an email came in while others would simply stop loading pages for an extended period. By the end of my first year I had already been through three Blackberries. Over the next three years came 11 Droids. Since January 2013, I have already been through three iPhones with the last, my current, frequently fails to transfer or receive data during most of the day occurring on most days. Throughout all of this, Verizon never offered anything beyond replacing the device – meaning, they never once considered the possibility that there was a problem with their network. 4.5 years and 16 phones later, Verizon just now ordered the FIRST IT ticket on my account. And I find that unreasonable and unacceptable. Plus, the ordeal involving my current phone's dysfunction proved the worse. That story follows:

In December, it was time for my 13th phone. So, after all other OS failed me, or so I believed, I switched to the iPhone – what everyone believed would solve the mystery of my continuously dying phones. However, within one month of my December purchase, my first iPhone stopped charging while all data-based programs began to slow whenever an email was coming in. But Apple replaced it. The next phone would slow to a near crawl for extended periods whenever using data. But Apple replaced it. By the third day of my next and current iPhone, it began simply freezing whenever using data – to the point where most of the workday my phone can only be used for texts and calls - a worsening but nearly identical to my experiences with the majority of my Verizon phones. Specifically, my current phone can take two hours to load my Gmail if at all; lose GPS at any moment - often while in transit; and lose all internet accessibility. This occurs most days, regardless of location - the one absolute is that it is the least reliable anywhere in Manhattan. However, this time Apple refused to replace it explaining that they believe the issue to be in the network. Since Apple identified my carrier as the culprit, I called Verizon. This began the biggest challenge and worst ordeal of all my 16 replacement phones.

When I first called, I spoke with one of the few truly amazing workers I have come across during my 100s of hours dealing with Verizon due to their failure to ever truly remedy the situation. This representative was the first and only to take note of how many phones I've been through and the first and only to finally ask, "What's going on here?" He, more importantly, informed me that he was going to write my first IT ticket. THE FIRST! That's right; through 16 phones in 4.5 years, nobody had ever once written an IT ticket. He explained that he was doing so due to a potential problem he identified that would have affected my service across all phones since joining the Verizon network - something related to an inconsistency between my phone’s number and its linked shared secret number (I truly don’t remember but this number was described to me as a sort of identification number that is paired with your cell number and is used whenever roaming as well as by all data-related programs). Just like what I have been experiencing, he explained that texts and calls would not be affected. However, everything else, regardless of devise, OS, etc., could be compromised. What I heard was that Verizon could have prevented this from continuing and instead left me chasing an impossibility (that the problems were in the device) while wasting my time and money. I believe that it is reasonable to assume that if an IT ticket had been issued earlier, or really if any investigative process was launched at all, then I would likely have saved many hours and much frustration. However, at this point, the "ordeal" is just getting warmed up.

The IT ticket was submitted and I was advised that the resolution would take up to 72 hours but that they often call for more info with the first 24. To date I have yet to receive one call on this matter. All info I have gathered myself when calling, which I did each time I found myself carrying a useless smartphone – I called nearly every day. Through the course of those calls, four reps decided to "take on the case" and promised to "call everyday” to update me - one called once to tell me that there was no update. That was on day 13. I never heard from him again. I experienced literally no customer service while living with essentially a flip phone in an iPhone case everywhere in the city and frequently everywhere else.

At day 14, I literally begged for them to “do something.” The only “offer” I received was to buy another phone and line and add it to my account. I could then return it within the first 14 days for a full refund. That was it.

On the 17th day without any contact from customer service, I called and was told that the IT ticket had identified the "cause." I was told that my phone suffered from poor coverage in my home area. Now mind you that I never complained of issues near my home and was very specific when explaining that it is the most problematic in Manhattan. Additionally, of my many Verizon iPhone 5 friends who frequent my apartment, I am the only to complain of accessibility issues. Furthermore, not only was I clear when describing the issue, but when the IT ticket was described by customer reps who I was speaking with at Verizon, it mentioned my home calling area as the problem area and both times I corrected them. I specifically asked that they adjust the IT ticket accordingly. However, this was apparently for naught as the 17-day IT ticket ultimately “investigated” an inaccurate complaint. Meaning, after 17-days, I am left with no resolution or even progress - or even reliable access. My phone continues to struggle even when sitting next to my girlfriend, a Verizon iPhone 5 customer as well. I believe this 17-day - but should have been three day – IT ticket report is an utter fabrication. Flat out. No investigation was conducted.

I then requested that my second ever IT ticket be written and submitted now containing that appropriate location – everywhere but mainly in Manhattan. In the meantime, I am now entering my 22 day since first informing Verizon of the failures of their network to deliver reliable service to my 16th phone. Again, Verizon has done nothing.

The take home message? Clearly, Verizon has failed me. They did not do all they could in order to provide me with access to their reliable network, which caused an absolute loss of time, money, and effort, not to mention an absolute loss of faith in Verizon. I have worked harder then anyone at Verizon to remedy this still unresolved problem while Verizon failed to perform their due diligence in attempting to remedy the situation. I use a failure to perform due diligence here to represent Verizon’s refusal to explore all possibilities especially given the extreme circumstances concerning my case. Instead, the route easiest for each customer service representative was taken and they simply replaced the device instead, which essentially puts the problem back on me and continues to deny me access to the network. I was told that filing a full IT report could take a representative hours to complete. When taking this further, due to Verizon's failure, it is likely that my ability to take full advantage of the network as described in the contract was prevented. This has resulted in numerous difficulties including recently becoming lost on foot for two hours in Baltimore during a heat-wave due to my data connection dropping for two hours all while trying to navigate my way to a destination - in fact, just this past weekend I had to pull over to wait for my GPS to load while driving to Baltimore. Beyond the impact of an unreliable phone, I have dedicated an untold amount of hours both on the phone and in person attempting to remedy the situation all the while Verizon did nothing but were the only ones who held the ability to correct the dysfunction. I was literally wasting my time and it was a result of Verizon’s failure.

I was also told that beyond a $52 credit given early in July for the days of compromised connectivity but before the actual filing of the ticket, Verizon will not credit me any amount for any of the days spent investigating the ticket. I was told that Verizon credits for time their network was down – not slow. I explained that email would take hours upon hours to load to which I was told, “…so you’re saying that it would eventually load.” They also informed me that according to their records, my phone had use “a lot of data” during the times I reported. I have no idea how this is possible due to all I’ve described but I do know that the phone would not simply freeze; it would continuously attempt to load a page, refresh mail, or connect to GPS. Perhaps this was the cause. Regardless, no credit was offered. I did call back and try again to which I was offered $10. I denied the offer.

This is simply unacceptable and I will not accept it. Thanks to the ridiculously erroneously-based or flat out bogus IT report, which states that I have "poor coverage" in my home calling area, I am able to leave Verizon with no cancellation fines. However, forgiving the cancellation fee in no way comes close to making up for the time dedicated and lost on this futile effort. It is the futility of this effort and Verizon’s refusal to allow me access to the network by failing to investigate anything beyond the device while I continued to experience significant disruptions – all the while paying full fare – that I believe warrants consideration of the legitimacy of the right of Verizon to keep my payments. I believe they do not and should even owe for the unintended consequence of their intentional refusal to explore instead of replace. Fortunately, this is a quantifiable amount, which I intend to pursue.

I will be filing against Verizon in small claims court. I was informed that I have to advise you of my intent at least 30-days before actually doing so. Please consider this email to be that statement of intent. Additionally, I was told that Verizon cannot inform me of the frequency and duration of my customer service calls without subpoena. Therefore this email also serves as notification of intent to file for a subpoena in 30-days as well. I anticipate learning that I have spent well over 100 hours attempting to deal with this situation. I will be seeking compensation for that time plus reimbursement for money spent for compromised access to the Verizon network and inefficient support in remedying - or even attempting to identify - the cause.

Verizon needs to care about customers in general but should take note of one who has gone through 16 phones in 4.5 years. One for whom Verizon never opened an IT ticket and instead just saddled him with years of difficulties. One who waited 17 days with no contact at all just to be told the results of investigation into the wrong address and that offers no resolution. And one who still lacks reliable access to the network. There is absolutely no justification for this.

If you know how to help, please do. If not, then just voice your displeasure with the monster Verizon and the methods of their madness-inducing customer service whenever and wherever possible.

I am posting this email everywhere I can.

Thank you.

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A Den of Thieves

Posted by bryan285 on 03/09/2013

Rating: 1/51

SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA -- The following is a letter I am sending to the main office of Verizon Wireless which explains my ongoing problem with them. One thing not mentioned in this letter is their bait & switch scams they employ against unsuspecting consumers and I think it is high time for a class action suit against these despots.

Letter to Verizon;
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I am contacting you to issue a complaint and a demand for damages due to business loss caused by a service interruption which began on 02/07/2013 and has not been resolved to date. I run a home based business providing federal contracting guidance, training and mentoring to Veteran, Service Disabled Veteran, Hub Zone, Minority, Native American and Women owned firms.

I contacted your customer service technical support early Thursday morning, 3/ /2013 to report a problem with our wireless Jet-Pak Hot Spot and they determined that my Jet Pak unit was defective or malfunctioning. At Verizon’s store representatives direction I traveled into Santa Rosa, California to the Verizon store where I purchased the unit. I was told that the card for the unit was defective and they replaced it. I tested it in the store before I departed and it worked, however I told the store representative that I reside in an area where Verizon promises at least 3G and a strong signal and I have had neither. Upon returning home the unit still would not operate properly. It would find a signal and on and off but when I could get online the speed was so slow I could not read e-mail, perform my business required internet searches or other internet related business needs.

The next day I returned to the store again at the direction of Verizon’s store representative who said he would provide a new unit. When I arrived I was now told that Verizon was working on towers in my area and that there would be intermittent service for 1 week and “intermittent service” turned out to be almost zero service which has caused damages to my business. My promised Verizon service has not been sufficient to perform my required daily work and as a result I have lost many hours of productivity and most likely customers that I cannot replace.

I pay Verizon a large monthly fee for this service and I have a right to expect it to function as promised. I was also never called, e-mailed, or contacted in any manner about service interruptions. Had you contacted me I would have been able to possibly make arrangements to mitigate the extensive damage and hardship this has placed on my small business but unfortunately you did not make any attempt to do so. I have attached a list of damages/losses which I trust can be settled without litigation. If not, I am fully prepared to do so as I have clients that will represent my business pro bono.

For a period of (5 ) days I was unable to perform my required daily research, communication, and business development activities. I average $7,000.00 per month in my business working 20 days. The 5 days I was not able to operate has cost my business $1,750.00, please see the attached invoice. If payment has not been made to my firm within thirty business days, or you do not respond within 30 days I will file suit, and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

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Verizon Refuses to Give Me a Working Phone

Posted by wmuboy on 12/06/2012

Rating: 1/51

BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY -- I bought an iPhone 5 and car charger from Verizon Wireless. The cable for the iPhone would not fit in the car charger, so I returned the charger. A week later, the keyboard on my iPhone would not work. Verizon billed my credit card for the new iPhone. I sent the old one back to them. When they received it, they credited my card. But, I had still not received the credit for the car charger. I called Verizon and they said they would “try” to get the issue resolved. I ended up talking to their executive customer service department and still had to hassle with them. In the end, after a week of feuding with them, they finally credited my card.

With the first iPhone 5, I could easily drag and drop files easily from “My Computer” on my computer to the storage folder of my iPhone. On the second iPhone they sent me, I could not do this. It kept giving me a void sign. I called Verizon technical support, but they could not figure out what to do. I called Apple technical support. After a very long time on the phone, the Apple agent said she would e-mail me later. Right after we got off the phone, she e-mailed me saying, “Hi, here is your case number for your call today. I have checked with my senior adviser and was told that when you upload the pictures to the computer you can then drag and drop. but the new version of itunes and Icloud will not allow you to drag and drop.” My issue has nothing to do with itunes or icloud at all! I do not want to sync my data. I just want to drag and drop a few files.

I called Verizon again. They said they’d send me a new phone. She said their system showed the first iPhone had not been returned yet (even though she confirmed that it had been returned). She said to wait a few days for their computer to allow them to send me a new phone. I said I wasn't willing to wait. She said she would call me back the next day, which she did not do.

I contacted Verizon’s executive customer service. The agent, Jeff, said they would make an “exception” and send me out a new phone. How is sending me what I paid for—a working iPhone 5—making an exception? He said they would just need my credit card number. I refused to provide it after all of the hassle to get them to credit me for a simple car charger.

I e-mailed Apple again about the defect. Their response was to simply provide a link to the product manual. So, if you contact Apple about a defective product, their response is to give you the manual and send you on your way.

After Verizon and Apple’s lack of service, I do not feel comfortable being locked in with a two-year agreement. I should be charging Verizon $20/hour for my time!

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Poor Customer Service on Defective Phones

Posted by Sandra on 12/04/2012

Rating: 1/51

ST. PERTERSBURG, FLORIDA -- I was given this phone last year for being a valued customer for over 20 years. I started having problems with the phone prior to expiration of warranty. Called Verizon and spoke to Joshua and he advised me to call a specific number, tell them he told me to call and explain to them that the phone is barely out of warranty, and the problems I am having. These are the keyboard would double the letters, the keys would stick, took several times to try to dial a number and had many dropped calls. My clients, due to this being my business phone, would have to call my home because they weren't able to reach me on the cell phone. Verizon checked the phone, told me it was the phone. Called Tech Support @ Verizon. They advised a replacement phone of the same kind and brand would be sent out overnight delivery for the next day. With as many times as I have called, Zach said he would give me a 20.00 credit for inconvenience.

I received the replacement phone the next day. Verizon programed the phone and it had more problems than the other one. When I tried to dial a number, it hung up, when someone would call, it hung up. After three days of trying to get the phone to work, I called Verizon again. They advised they would send me a different type of phone, the LG Cosmos II which would be ready to be programed, and It would be sent out overnight delivery. The phone came in without the back of the phone, a battery or charger. I recontacted Verizon explained the situation. They sent the battery and charger, but no back to the phone so I couldn't even get that one connected. It's been 3 weeks and many phone calls to Verizon. The back of the phone was supposed to be here Saturday. it didn't come. Recontacted Verizon again, they advised it would be here Monday, now it is Monday and not here yet. I continued to tell them this is a business phone and I need it. Excuses continued to come, advising this time the back of the phone will arrive before 3:00 on Tuesday 12/4/12. I am waiting to see. When they send replacement phones, they are re-furbished. I told the representative tonight I wanted a new phone. She said she can't help me there. By now, I am very aggravated. I do believe Verizon should give me a free, non-re-furbished phone of my choice. They need to do something for a customer that has been a valued one for that many years.

So everyone, beware of the refurbished phones. Asurion, is their current cell phone insurance company and they send out re-furbished phones for Verizon
.
There is a cell phone insurance company out there that will send you a new phone when you purchase their insurance and file a claim. Verizon Tech Support tells me there is no such thing. I reminded her that it was a local representative and Technician at the Verizon Store in Pinellas Park is the one that provided the information to me.

Three weeks now, and still no decent phone. The service used to be good, that is why I stayed with them so long, now it has changed drastically. With as much as we have to pay for service, and always a contract with Verizon, they should be more accommodating to their customers needs.

Angry Customer

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Verizon Wireless Huntsville Alabama Customer Support Chain of Command Should Be Fired

Posted by Charlise on 08/09/2014

Rating: 1/51

MASSACHUSETTS -- The Customer Support center in Huntsville is unbelievably unprofessional and trained at one thing....don't do anything and push fake to do's on the customer until they waste so much time they will give up.

Verizon shows a total disrespect for their customer's time. They don't do work they can be proud of so they all stay unidentifiable. They use first names only so if your name is john or Susie you are all set cause no one can prove anything in court.

Had a simple problem. Made an online credit card payment on line early. Verizon wireless did not credit to the account. They insisted I had never even logged onto the site. I had a print out and offered to scan and send it to them. They said they did not have e-mail(so much for honesty) and I said no problem I will fax it then. I use a online service when I am traveling. Have no problems with it and I am in finance, they said they didn't get it. I said I would send again. I had two confirms. They said there fax doesn't become available for over an hour often. I said, did someone have a clue that they need another one. Eric (3rd level person or so represented said) oh you have to understand we are a communications company so you can't expect us to be able to communicate promptly. I gasped in disbelieve...to big to expect to be competent. Communications companies can't be expected to communicate. His problem was I worked for megalithic companies...IBM, State Street, Morgan Stanley and had been involved in the second largest telephone company in the country. So I said get up and walk to the fax and check. (1 1/2 hours for a simple resolution request). There other choice was for me to drive to an office and start the whole ridiculous process over again. Judge Green where are you now....break the guys two big to do their job up again.

No they wanted to promise to call me back....with no telephone numbers and no last names how would that work with a busy customer who is not going to wait by their phone, make other calls and likely have the message go to phone mail???? Either the team is dense or they really don't want anyone to be able to resolve problems or have equal footing with the company. They want you to get so frustrated that you will not want to spend 1 1/2 hours in an illogical diversionary tactic that any customer with a half of a brain can see through.

Did they forget being a utility company means they are supposed to serve the community base? FCC get on this? Hire secret shoppers and get rid of this practice. Mandate that that they have "code" first and last names for all their employees filed with the FCC for law suits. Not hard to fix if you want to limit abuses of power.

I paid them again last night not knowing if they had been hacked. Not wanting to be considered late when their system confirmed I had actually paid early. If their computer program logs are obviously false, what does that mean and why is it programmed like that? Who is minding the chicken coup ....the fox pointing in both directions who is part of a band called Verizon Wireless and the 3 Denials?

PS...not a single call attempt from them.

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Horrible service , deceptive practices & price gouging!!!

Posted by T. on 12/04/2012

Rating: 1/51

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA -- Recently purchased a new phone to add to my account( am in-contract, so I paid retail for the phone...). I went to the local Verizon store to activate the phone & inquired about getting insurance. I was told by the in-store representative that because I didn't buy the phone from Verizon, I could not add the insurance, which I found to be odd, because I have a friend who purchased his phone at the same time I did mine & he had no problem adding insurance....

At a later time, I contacted customer service about another issue & inquired about the insurance again, only to be told that the insurance COULD have been added to the account when I initially activated the phone ( I spoke to two different reps on separate occasions & they both, after doing a little research, gave me the same answer.

I then contacted their corporate office & spoke with a fellow who proceeded to tell me that they can't offer insurance because they don't have knowledge of the condition of the phone if its purchased somewhere other than Verizon... utter nonsense.., don't they have technicians that service these phones in some of their stores? Couldn't they do a basic test on the phone to validate the condition?? anyway, after taking off my boots I had on while I was dragged through all his BS, I realized that Verizon is not a company that cares about their customers. I have been with them well over 12 years & am now looking elsewhere for service. The only thing they care about is you paying your overpriced bill!! I could see if I was asking for something for free, but I would be paying for the service & they made no attempt to resolve the issue. They stink!!!

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Really Crappy Customer Service

Posted by Amber on 06/20/2012

Rating: 1/51

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA --
With Verizon, currently I have

*A month of service that I have been charged for TWICE
*Charges on my bill where they gave me a data line that I specifically asked to NOT have and NOT be charged for that they charged me for I don't know how many months and they won't refund all of the charges
*A phone that the microphone only partially works on when I make out going calls that I bought from them 20 days ago that they refuse to refund.
*15 years of service with Verizon Wireless where I paid my bill on time
*A Google search for a new company to buy my cell phone service from

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Details of Verizon's incompetence in the customer service area

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Endless automated system loop where if you hit 0, the system hangs up on you.
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I also tried calling the local store, who would just forward me to the same customer service line that liked to put you in an endless automated loop.

Hint, call a store and have them stay on the line with you until you actually get to a person at customer service. This only take 30 minutes or so.
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I don't know how many phone calls that I made to customer service where I actually got to a person (instead of an automated system endless loop) where they promised to call me back and did not. One person actually called me back.
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The first level customer service line that the first level customer service representative told me that he did not know his manager's name and could not get to a manager. He also told me that he did not have a manager. Which I, of course, really wonder about. I would think that a company as big as Verizon would have a few management layers between the first level customer support and the CEO, Daniel S Mead.

It was only when I kept him on the phone for repeatedly giving him the same 3 choices, give me a refund, tell me you don't want me as a customer any more (hanging up on me would count towards that) or transferring me to his manager that he remembered his manager's name. But he refused to transfer me to his manager for the longest time. I am sure most people would have just hung up in frustration at this point. But those of you that know me, know that although I do not did in my heals often, when I do, I am unmovable.

* A call with a manager
****who was the highest one available at that time said there was no one else that could help me and how would I feel if someone called me from work when I was at home to ask me something--which I told him that it would feel like a normal day where I worked
****who said he could refund all of those things if we wanted to because he could refund anything he wanted to but was choosing not to refund me.
****who said Customer Retention refused to talk to me
****who hung up on me and by hang up he said something to the effect of "We value you as a customer but can not help you in this matter and hung up the phone"
****Sat on the phone with me for 20-30 minutes not saying anything....expect when I would ask him if he valued me as a customer...which he repeatedly said he did
****I did ask him about business models and cost of getting a new customer vs retaining an old customer and profit/loss and estimate of how much profit they had made off of me in the last 15 years and if I kept my current plan, how much profit they would expect to make out of me in the next 15 years. Then calculate the percentage the refund would be out of the 15 years of profit they already made out of me. You know, you basic business ROI analysis. .....No effect. This, of course, does not count all the potential lost profit that they would receive in the future from people that seek out the advice of their local tech geek (me) on who to go with and who to say away from on just about every technology topic out there
****I wonder what they CEO would think their "Highest Customer Service Manager in the Building"'s math skills and customer retention capabilities. The last time I threatened to leave a cell phone company because of poor customer service was....well....15 years ago.

NEEDLESS TO SAY, I AM SWITCHING CELL PHONE PROVIDERS

THE REALLY SAD PART: I have spoken to 4 people since 5:30 pm about this. 1 person just switched from Verizon because of their crappy customer service 1 person is waiting for their contract to expire in February to switch providers because of customer service

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Right now I am hearing good things about TMobile, Boost and Straight Talk.

I am in receipt of your letter dated March 7. As you are well aware, I made repeated attempts by post to have Asurion insurance removed from my account, beginning in November 2011 and continuing until March 2012. Asurion confirmed the cancellation immediately. Nevertheless, Verizon continued to charge my account.

In my repeated correspondence I specifically said I would not accept phone calls from you. There are numerous reasons for this policy: 1.) I will not waste time on redundant phone calls, i. e., the nature of the problem was very clear in my post; 2.) Verizonâs website plainly states that customer service can, in fact, be handled by post; 3.) Verizon failed to cancel the insurance, therefore, the only resolution is a revised bill. Merely discussing the problem on the phone is unacceptable.

Most companies do not require a phone call to confirm such modificationsâoffering more efficient resolution by chat or by emailâthus eliminating redundant phone calls, voice mails and return phone calls. I absolutely cannot abide a company that puts its own preferred method of communication above the customerâs specific instructions. Christopher, I will not return your call, and then wait on a phone line for 10 minutes or longer to instruct you of requirements for my accountâwhen I have already mailed you the instructions.

You disregarded those instructions, harassing my elderly mother by calling her line numerous times. You then called my disabled daughterâs line several times, leaving forceful messages. You upset my young daughter so much that she begged me to âtell the angry man to stop calling.â Ultimately, I received an email stating that the account had been correctly credited as per my November 2011 instructionsâa simple and effective communication. Nevertheless, Christopher, you continued this harassment in a petulant letter complaining that I âhung upâ on you.

Christopher, I am more than a little dismayed by your behaviorâparticularly in light of your chosen field. Furthermore, your insistence on blaming me for your inability to service the customer is reprehensible. Your letter states: ââ¦any delay in accomplishing this modification to your account was because that we were unable to speak with you directlyâ¦â Christopher, suffice it to say I am not convinced that this almost five-month delay in meeting the customerâs needs was, in fact, my fault.

It appears that you, as Coordinator of Verizon Wirelessâ Office of Executive Relations care little for the customerâs needs. What I needed, was for the insurance to be cancelled/credited with as little intrusion into my life as possible. Quite simply, Christopher, your job is to be the solution, not the problem. You, as a representative of Verizon, made an absolute nuisance of yourself.

I am a long-time Verizon customer. Nevertheless, the moment my contract expires, I will switch all three of my lines to AT&T. In the meantime, I will inform everyone I know personally and through social media, that Verizon Wirelessâ Office of Executive Relations is disrespectful to its customersâto the point of harassment.

I am sending this letter, along with a copy of your missive, to the Verizon Human Resources Department. I urge the Human Resources department to maintain this letter as a testament to your obvious inability to offer customer service in any capacity.